Kochi: The senior officials of Cochin Minerals & Rutile Limited (CMRL) reportedly told the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that they were unaware of the IT-related services Exalogic Solutions Pvt Ltd had rendered to the company.
The CMRL had paid Rs 1.72 crore to Exalogic, owned by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter T Veena. The ED officers had asked CMRL officials to provide the documents and details of the payment made to Exalogic over some time.
Senior Finance Officer KS Suresh Kumar, Senior Manager NC Chandrasekharan, and Senior Officer Anju Rachael Kuruvilla presented themselves before the ED for questioning. CMRL's Managing Director Sasidharan Kartha did not appear before the ED, citing health reasons. The ED will issue him a fresh notice. It was learnt that the CMRL officials failed to answer the ED satisfactorily.
Earlier in January, the Registrar of Companies (ROC) found that the transaction between CMRL and Exalogic constituted an offence under the Anti-Money Laundering Act and the Anti-Corruption Act. Later in March, ED registered a money laundering case against CMRL after the alleged illegal deal with Exalogic Solutions made headlines. Further probe revealed that CMRL donated over Rs 73 crore to politicians, temples and media houses from 2012-2020. But the company tactfully added these transactions to its travel expenditure.